Japan Quotes

“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”
― Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea

“Things
changing, failing apart, fading, another year, a few more
moves, a hard person who doesn't give a fuck, a boredom so
monumental it humbles, arrangements so fleeting made by
people you don't even know that it requires you to lose any
sense of reality you might have once acquired, expectations
so unreasonable you become superstitious about ever
matching them.”
― Bret Easton Ellis, Water from the Sun and Discovering Japan

“Truly a good horse, good ground to gallop on, and sunshine, make up the sum of enjoyable travelling.”
― Isabella L. Bird, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan

“You know Americans...Self-improvement. No matter who or what we are, we're always working on ways to become somebody else.”
― Alan Brown

“Poverty and loneliness could be seen as a liberation from strivings to become rich and popular.”
― Donald Richie, A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics

“The secret to making yourself stronger is to absorb the strength of the people around you—energy begets energy.”
― Adachi Zenko, My Life in Japanese Art and Gardens: From Entrepreneur to Connoisseur

“The peace within and flowing from sacred spaces and architecture places is clothed in forgiveness, renunciation, and reconciliation.”
― Norris Brock Johnson, Tenryu-ji: Life and Spirit of a Kyoto Garden

“Comics are drawings, not photographs, and as such they present a subjective view of reality.”
― Frederik L. Schodt, Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga

“Peace is not just a desired state of being for people, but also enables the flourishing of nature as well as human-created landscapes.”
― Norris Brock Johnson, Tenryu-ji: Life and Spirit of a Kyoto Garden

“Out of the ugliness of the ironworks lepers will eat, children will be born, their parents will grow old.”
― Helen McCarthy, Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation

“Gift giving is part of the culture no matter where you are and no matter how long you stay.”
― Christalyn Brannen, Doing Business with Japanese Men: A Woman's Handbook

“One warm morning in July, a ghost came to our breakfast table.”
― Holly Thompson, Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories

“I’m very headstrong. Once I’ve caught fire, there’s no dousing the flames—all engines full speed ahead.”
― Adachi Zenko, My Life in Japanese Art and Gardens: From Entrepreneur to Connoisseur

“The Professor noted two nymphs with strawberries on their heads, a DayGlo Amish lady, a mustachioed man in a rainbow apron. He wrote Saturday Night Fever, then crossed it out and wrote Drag Ball + Bollywood and underlined it twice.”
― La Carmina, Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo

“I had never thought of haiku, or any kind of poetry for that matter, as a social activity.”
― Abigail Friedman, The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan

“For the casual viewer, Kurosawa’s films can be an exercise in endurance.”
― Jerry White, The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Master of Fear

“Even if there are no new Mighty Atom manga or films created, the Mighty Atom character has become a permanent fixture of both Japanese and global pop culture.”
― Frederik L. Schodt, The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution

“Kon’s films present a fractured, multifaceted world in which everyone has their own different reality.”
― Andrew Osmond, Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist

“Tokyo is a very safe city. At night it becomes quiet the way New York never does.”
― Rick Kennedy, Little Adventures in Tokyo: 39 Thrills for the Urban Explorer

“To the woman in the restaurant today, the doll in her arms was the real child who still lived in her memories.”
― Shogo Oketani, J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965

“While the characters drive the epic story of Robotech, it’s the robotic mecha that capture the imagination.”
― Tommy Yune, The Art of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

“One very good way to invite stares of disapproval in Japan is to walk and eat at the same time.”
― Andrew Horvat, Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker

“The new fans of Japan won’t be Orientalists, but they will be anime-savvy.”
― Morinosuke Kawaguchi, Geeky-Girly Innovation: A Japanese Subculturalist's Guide to Technology and Design

“Luna Sea’s music moves quickly but intelligibly, with a darkly frenetic, creative energy.”
― Josephine Yun, Jrock, Ink.: A Concise Report on 40 of the Biggest Rock Acts in Japan

“When a zashiki warashi came to live with you, good fortune smiled upon the whole house.”
― Holly Thompson, Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories

“As much as any contemporary writer, Murakami grasps the bewildering fluidity of commoditized life.”
― The Japan Foundation, A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World

“He did not care about titles and was proud to be a farmer beyond all else.”
― Tsuneichi Miyamoto, The Forgotten Japanese: Encounters with Rural Life and Folklore

“My Japanese isn’t much better today, but at least now I appreciate my duality more than when I was a punk kid.”
― Gil Asakawa, Being Japanese American: A JA Sourcebook for Nikkei, Hapa . . . & Their Friends

“In Japanese swordsmanship, it is not uncommon to speak of a unity of mind, body, and sword.”
― H.E. Davey, The Japanese Way of the Artist: Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, Brush Meditation, The Japanese Way of the Flower

“In spite of what most assume, it is surprisingly tough to make the mind and body work together as a unit.”
― H.E. Davey, The Japanese Way of the Artist: Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, Brush Meditation, The Japanese Way of the Flower